Cardiff find a way in game they “had to win”.

I mentioned in my reaction piece to Cardiff City’s 1-0 loss to Leicester last week that, while they could point to a very tough start in which they faced the five sides who look set to dominate the Premier League this season in their first ten matches, what follows brings a different kind of pressure.

The pressure City suffered from while they were facing the Man Citys, Chelseas and Liverpools of this world came from the fact they were not winning any points in these matches, but then, apart from the 5-0 home trouncing by Pep Guardiola’s Champions, it was possible for us to take positives from the matches with the other four which enabled you to think that things would get better a bit further down the line.

For example, my piece following our defeat at Liverpool in our last game against one of the top five until we entertain Spurs on New Year’s Day was pretty positive considering that we had only picked up half a point a game from our first ten fixtures. The reason for my glass half full outlook was that we were now into a run of winnable fixtures and we entered it still well in touch with the sides just above the relegation places.

Of course, allowing yourself to start getting even slightly optimistic about how your team can fare in their coming matches only brings an increase in pressure on them because it creates a sense of expectation even for a team that has been as consistently written off  as City have been this season.

This was reflected in the reaction by some to our loss last week – in fact, forget the use of the word “some” there, because, in reality, I’m only thinking of myself!

Last week, I described our performance for the last two thirds of the Leicester match as rubbish, but felt a little guilty about being so scathing because, although the attention was focused far more on our visitors, just being the side Leicester faced in their first game since the tragedy which hit that club could not have been easy for our players. Perhaps, “rubbish” was too strong a word to use about our general performance, but I do think it could be applied to how we tried to get on terms once we had fallen behind.

Anyway, I think the point here is that the way a team is perceived by their own supporters can have a great deal to do with what the expectation levels of those supporters. Much has been made of the great support the team has got so far this season, but I would argue that in some ways it’s down to a kind of us against the world outlook – would the type of support we’ve been getting change if we started winning a few games?

Just having some matches that are considered winnable makes the consequences of failure in such encounters harder to take for supporters desperate to see signs that their team can beat the doom laden predictions of the media men and pundits.

Therefore, the pressure on the team this afternoon when opponents Brighton were reduced to ten men with fifty five minutes left and the score 1-1 was ratcheted up by quite a few notches. It’s one thing being involved in matches that are considered winnable, but another completely when a win is expected from you.

There are going to be very, very few occasions this season when we could say City were expected to win. I suppose the early season encounters when Newcastle and Huddersfield were reduced to ten men might qualify, but they were played at a time when the league was in its infancy and I don’t see how any match in August can be described as one that has to be won.

That is exactly what I heard at half time today though when I tuned into Radio 5 – the consensus was that this was a game where nothing but three points would do now for Cardiff.

To be honest, I hadn’t seen a great deal in the first forty five minutes to suggest that win would be forthcoming.

City, with Greg Cunningham in for Joe Bennett, Kadeem Harris replacing Bobby Decordova-Reid and Joe Ralls, fit again following his ban for the sending off at Spurs, taking over from Harry Arter, who was ruled out after accumulating five yellow cards, seemed to have settled into things quire well when they conceded another early goal -we’ve let in a goal inside the first ten minutes or so in four of our last five games now.

The galling thing about Lewis Dunk’s sixth minute header was that I believe this was another goal which we would not have conceded last season. Yes, I appreciate we are in a league now where the opposition are of a calibre whereby they can punish you through their own brilliance, but there was nothing in the construction of Brighton’s goal to suggest we had been undone by high quality play. Granted, Solly March’s free kick to the far post was accurate and had pace and Dunk’s header was well directed, but the fact that the ball ended up in our net was, first and foremost, down to rank bad defending.

After the game, Neil Warnock said that Sol Bamba had accepted responsibility for letting Dunk go to the extent that the defender called into the England squad this weekend was free to guide his header past Neil Etheridge – it was a situation that needed nothing better than the sort of defending that was commonplace from us last season, but, not for the first time, it was absent this time around.

The noises we hear coming out of the club are that the team spirit, which was such a feature for us last season, is still strong, but, for me, any group has to suffer when they are being defeated as frequently as we have been this season.

Certainly, while there weren’t many signs of heads dropping after the concession of the early goal, there was a lack of composure in our passing and shooting which was indicative of a team struggling with their confidence.

City’s lack of poise was thrown into sharp focus by how the goal seemed to settle Brighton. The visitors threatened down our left on occasions as Harris, who had started on that side moved over to the right, but Josh Murphy (some way short of the form he has shown in recent home games) looked to play more of a floating role with the consequent that Bruno had to fight something of a lone battle at times on our right.

Injury didn’t help his cause, but, given how small a part he played in our promotion, I think it’s fair to say that there was general surprise when Kadeem Harris was given a place in our twenty five man squad for the first part of this season and that was certainly the view of many when they learned of his inclusion today.

However, right from the start, he looked the City winger more likely to create something. Nothing much had come off his prompting until the twenty eighth minute when his run and cross from the right opened up the Brighton defence – luck played a part as well as a slight deflection off a defender saw the ball loop towards Callum Paterson who netted easily with a far post header to record his third goal in five matches since taking on the attack leader role and it could be argued that we deserved that little bit of good fortune after what Neil Warnock claimed after the game was a sixteen pass move where everyone in the team had contributed.

City’s goal came somewhat out of the blue, but they were now warming to their task and they were having their best spell so far when Brighton midfielder Dale Stephens was shown a straight red card by ref Martin Atkinson for a foul on Cunningham in the thirty fourth minute.

Now, I know we’re all completely biased around where I sit, but there was general agreement that the official had made the correct decision – from where I was sat, it looked like the sort of out of control lunge that is very much frowned on these days.

I was, therefore, surprised to hear during my half time listen to  Radio 5 that, although Danny Gabbidon and the reporter covering the game were of the opinion that Mr Atkinson got it right, the majority view on social media was that Stephens should not have been dismissed.

Having not seen the incident for a second time yet, I cannot comment any further on the validity or otherwise of the decision, but, whether right or wrong, it meant a rethink on Brighton’s part as winger March.was quickly sacrificed for an additional midfielder in Yves Bissouma as the visitors settled into two banks of four with Glenn Murray, largely, forced to fend for himself up front.

Brighton survived comfortably until half time, but it was when that state of affairs continued well into the second period, that frustration started to creep in around the ground.

Harris rattled the crossbar with a lovely curled effort from twenty yards as he cut in from the right, but, that, apart, City were labouring as their passing was never good enough to move their opponents around and tire them – surely that has to be the way to wear down a team with a one man disadvantage?

City’s cause wasn’t helped by what looked like a head injury to Sean Morrison which saw him leave the field to be replaced by Lee Peltier. Other substitutions saw Murphy replaced by Junior Hoilett and Ralls give way to Decordova-Reid, but none of the changes altered the growing feeling that Brighton would be heading back to Sussex with a point.

In fact, it it had not been for a brilliant tip over from Etheridge to deny José Izquierdo, Brighton would have been looking at a likely three points, but then, just it appeared City would never get the winner we were being told they had to get, the game changed in the last five minutes or so.

Although there had been no real sign of City using tactics designed to tire Brighton out, they were suddenly struggling – where Dunk and Shane Duffy had presented an impenetrable barrier in the middle of the visiting defence, the ball was now being scraped clear desperately by the Brighton backline and, for the first time, they were being subjected to the waves of pressure they must have expected when Stephens was dismissed.

Keeper Mat Ryan was finally called into urgent action as he twice denied Victor Camarasa as the crowd sensed a winner might be coming and, with the game in its ninetieth minute, an almighty scramble in the visitor’s penalty area saw Bamba hit the post with an over head kick and Dunk divert Paterson’s follow up on to the crossbar, before Sol finally crashed the ball home from six yards to record a dramatic winner amid Brighton claims that he had been offside at some time during a madcap ten seconds or so.

 

Apparently, Sol Bamba said no to referee Martin Atkinson when he was asked whether he had taken his shirt off after scoring his late winner – the evidence to the contrary seems pretty strong to me!*

Again, I’ve not seen the TV pictures yet, so cannot comment on the justification or otherwise behind these protests, but I  can understand Brighton grievances that they might have about the way that the match was handled (the BBC’s stats show they were penalized for fouls twenty one times to our seven) – I also feel a draw would have been a fair outcome, given how comfortable the visitors were and how we struggled with a one man advantage for the large majority of the time.

However, I’ve also got to admire City because, just as with their first win, they got the three points after going 1-0 down. Not only that, although there still have to remain questions about both their creativity and finishing, they found a way to win a game they had to on a day when, Crystal Palace apart, all of the sides around them managed to pick up at least a point.

That explains why City’s win only lifted them the one place up the league, they’re still in the bottom three, but they are now within one point of the four teams above them.

A quick well done to finish to our Under 18s who stay top of their league with a 1-0 win at QPR thanks to Ben Margetson’s first half header in a game which saw City striker Dan Griffiths shown a red card with a minute or two left.

Once again, I’ll finish with a request for support from readers by becoming my Patrons through Patreon. Full details of this scheme and the reasons why I decided to introduce it can be found here, but I should say that the feedback I have got so far has indicated a reluctance from some to use Patreon as they prefer to opt for a direct payment to me. If you are interested in becoming a patron and would prefer to make a direct contribution, please contact me at paul.evans8153@hotmail.com or in the Feedback section of the blog and I will send you my bank/PayPal details.

*picture courtesy of https://www.walesonline.co.uk/

 

 

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6 Responses to Cardiff find a way in game they “had to win”.

  1. Anthony O'Brien says:

    As always, an intelligent and well-argued summary from Paul. I think that what the game proved is that the result is more important than the performance for nearly every fan. Three points is like the kiss of life to all of us.

    Lack of creativity was again par for the course, naturally, and I was irritated by the preponderance of square passes and backwards passes. What made it alarming was that almost every Cardiff pass went to a man who was standing still. There is a twofold problem — we tend to lack the players able to produce the killer forward pass, as well as players able to see a gap and move forward into it at speed.
    So, it is the responsibility of players and coaches to work out an effective way to solve this conundrum, to somehow make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, to turn ugly ducklings into swans. Don’t ask me how this can be achieved with the present group, but let’s all believe it is not impossible.

  2. The other Bob Wilson says:

    Thank you Anthony. I agree with you about our general lack of creativity and, certainly in the second half, I thought we were moving the ball too slowly. However, I don’t know if you’ve seen the whole of the move which led to the first goal or not, but Neil Warnock was right when he said every one of our players had touched the ball as we strung sixteen passes (must admit it looked like more than that to me) together. It was the sort of goal I didn’t think we were capable of scoring, but I would add that it could be said that it wasn’t until Kadeem Harris got involved and added the necessary urgency to the move that Brighton would have felt they were under any threat – I think we’ve improved with our passing this season, but it has to be done crisply if we are going to inconvenience teams at this level.
    Regarding the result being more important than the performance, that’s the sort of thing you always tend to hear from managers towards the end of the season, but I think its been true for City since game one – we were laboured for about 90 per cent of that game, but we won and, with two victories now in our past four matches, the confidence we should gain from knowing that we can win at this level without having to play really well should go a little of the way needed to piece together that silk purse you talk about.

  3. Colin Phillips says:

    Thanks for the report, Paul, and the chance to express our views about the game.

    A very important three points but a pretty poor performance in my opinion.

    As Anthony says, when we do find our own man with a pass he is often standing still and under pressure. With a few exceptions we play like a scratch side, as if we have no idea what our colleague is going to do or where he is likely to make a run.

    On Saturday we had two significant decisions that this time went our way. Red card? The referees have to make their decisions without the benefit of countless reruns of the incident – so much easier when you are a TV pundit. The offside? Bamber was certainly offside in the early part of the action that led to our second goal but as I think I’ve said before the offside law/rule as it stands makes it very difficult for the linesman to get it right, I am amazed at how accurate they are with their offside decisions. Mind you they do miss a lot of other things that go on. On Saturday we got our decisions on another day they will go against us, hopefully throughout a season these will cancel each other out.

    Once again we give away an early goal through sloppy defending, Bamba prepared to take the blame but the thought goes through my mind that Etheridge might have come for it. Manga is a much more assured player when he is a centre-back, is it fair to him to keep playing him out of position? If we had a natural first choice right-back who would you leave out of Bamba, Manga or Morrison?

    Once again the long-throw situation has to be discussed. Without doubt we use it too often, it is so so predictable.

    The break probably comes at a good time, Morrison should be fit for the next one. After will presumably return, will Mr. Warnock play all of Arter, Camarasa, Gunnarson and Ralls?

    Great joy to see Leeds stuffed by West Brom. Did anyone see the Sheffield derby? Only saw the first half and Chris Wilders side were all over Wednesday, playing at a million miles an hour (so different to our pedestrian efforts) but unable to get the ball in the net, can’t believe they kept up that pace in the second half.

    What games will you be watching during the break, Paul. If you are not welcome at Blaenrhondda Park perhaps there will be a feast of football available at Ynys Park.

  4. Mike Herbert says:

    Another game I could watch “as live” on Sky means I have probably been able to join in with comments more meaningfully this year than previously! I have commented before that I don’t think we have had our share of good luck this season and it was nice to see that redressed to some extent by our winning goal. I fully understand why the officials failed to see the offside with the view of the assistant referee being so obscured and the referee blinded by the pin-ball wizardry. It is difficult to make up excuses, though, for their failure to see Bamba taking off his shirt and there is more good luck today with the news that there can be no retrospective yellow card. I wonder if Bamba will suffer next time we come up against the same ref!

    As far as the sending off was concerned, my initial reaction was that it was slightly harsh and thus was re-enforced somewhat by the Sky pundits (although one was an ex Brighton player). When I looked at it again though I thought the ref had got it right – the view supported unanimously on Match of the Day. Lots to do yet to survive but my glass is still half-full – mainly because of the great team spirit and brilliant support from our fans rather than our ability to play football!

  5. Lindsay Davies says:

    Mike H’s contribution could have served for me – pretty much word-for-word.
    My cup, too, remains half-full, but, I yearn for belief and ambition in our performances.
    Paul, thanks as ever.

  6. The other Bob Wilson says:

    Colin, my understanding is that Bamba wasn’t offside the first time because that was direct from a throw in, while the second one was nowhere near as clear cut as Chris Hughton was making out after the match. I wouldn’t blame the linesman too much for missing it because, without VAR, you are going to get those tight decisions go against you sometimes – the two major moments in the match went in our favour (although I still struggle to see how anyone could claim it was not a red card under current interpretations), but then we all know that there will be times, probably very soon, when we will be cursing the officials (we’ve been more sinned against than sinning in our time in the Premier League so far).
    I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the wingers left out against Everton with Camarasa going back to a wider role – if it was based solely on performance against Brighton, then our two attacking players at Goodison would be Paterson and Harris, something absolutely no one would have foreseen at the start of the season!
    I think Ton Pentre are away yet again on Saturday (at Pontypridd), so I’m going to try my luck at Blaenrhondda again weather permitting – there don’t seem to be any Saturday matches for Ton Pentre when City are playing away for a while, so I think I’ll try to get to one of the two Friday night matches they have scheduled for September.
    Mike, the thought that Bamba might suffer some time in the future at the hands of Martin Atkinson did occur to me as well. I’ve just been reading the match thread on the excellent North Stand Chat (Brighton) messageboard where there a lot of restless natives, some of whom say that we are the worst side they’ve seen their team play since their promotion – we are a little like it I suppose, but they don’t half sound like an entitled lot considering they’ve only been in the Premier League for a season and a quarter!
    Lindsay, my feeling was that it was a lack of ability holding us back in the second half on Saturday, rather than any lack of ambition (not so sure about the belief bit, I suppose it’s hard to have too much of that when it’s getting close to mid November and you’re still looking for your second league win of the season). I agree that we did not look too ambitious for much of the time when it was eleven against ten, but I think we were always trying to win the match because we knew it would feel like a defeat if we didn’t.

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